Higgins Armory seeks public input on future of building

WORCESTER — Soon to be for sale: An 83-year-old historic art deco building with high ceilings and Gothic arches reminiscent of a medieval castle.

Shortly after the Higgins Armory Museum — famous for its collection of armor and arms from ancient Greece to the Renaissance — closes its doors to the public for the last time Dec. 31, the building and property at 100 Barber Ave. will go on the market.

The museum's founder, John Woodman Higgins, an early 20th-century Worcester industrialist, spent a lifetime building his collection. In 1929, he began construction of a five-story building to house it, and in 1931 the Higgins Armory opened.

The museum was one of the first all-steel-and-glass curtain-wall structures built in America. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

The Higgins Armory Museum announced Thursday that it has begun the process of marketing the property. The process is being conducted under the guidance of an advisory committee composed of Higgins leadership, real estate people, and urban planning and historic architecture experts, including Deborah Packard, executive director of Preservation Worcester. Higgins expects to select the proposal that will best balance the future use of the building with purchase price, cost and time considerations.

The asking price has not been established.

“This is not a typical commercial real estate sale,” said Suzanne Maas, interim director at Higgins. “Given the unique history and design of the building, the impending integration with the Worcester Art Museum, and our desire to be transparent, we have undertaken extensive due diligence in preparing for this endeavor.”

In keeping with that, the museum will hold a public forum for the community to provide input on the building and the process, at 4 p.m. Wednesday Nov. 20 in its auditorium. Public input will be considered as the advisory committee shapes a request for proposals. The RFP will serve as the framework specifying what must be in all bids submitted for the building.

“We are doing due diligence,” said Michael Masseur, a spokesman for the museum. “We want to make sure all the t's are crossed and the i's dotted.”

The public forum will focus exclusively on the building, and will not consider other issues related to the museum's closing.

“This building has been a piece of the community for generations,” said James C. Donnelly Jr., a longtime trustee who has served as the president of Higgins since 2009, in a news release. “We feel strongly that members of the community should be given an opportunity to voice their thoughts and concerns about its future.”

Beginning in early 2014, the museum will work with a real estate agent to solicit proposals for the 42,000-square-foot structure and 75-acre site.

“We're not necessarily looking for the buyer who's going to write us the biggest check,” Mr. Donnelly said. “Our goal is to ensure that the future owner of the building takes into consideration the community impact, and is able to take ownership within a reasonable time frame.”

Because of the museum's listing on the National Register of Historic Places, requirements of the Massachusetts Historical Commission and local zoning regulations, restrictions are likely on the future use of the building, according to museum officials. However, the variables are too great to say definitively what those restrictions will be.

For more information about the building transition, as well as a calendar of events taking place before the museum closes, visit www.higgins.org.